Public Library Opens in Cambridge

On a bright afternoon last Sunday crowds of people gathered around an entrance to glinting, transparent glass building that looked more like a modern office building than a library. They peered at the sign posted on the doors, while the sight inside teased. Through the glass doors they could see employees rushing around the floor stacking shelves, organizing books, and arranging furniture as the crowd remained locked outside. The sign read, “Cambridge New Main Library: Open to the public November 8th, 2009 2-5.”

Once the clock struck 2 the doors opened and people of all ages flood the 104,000 square foot building, scouring the shelves for their favorite books. The process of building the new library has been 15 years in the making and Cambridge has been without a main public library for over four years, until this past Sunday.

Susan Flannery, Director of Libraries in Cambridge, has been part of the project since constructing a new main library was proposed 15 years ago. She said that there has been controversy involving whether a new library should be built at all, where it should be, and what it should look like, but that now that the $90 million plan is complete, the community is excited and should be proud.

Before the library committee decided where it would be built, William Rawn Associates designed seven different plans to try to suit the community’s needs.

“[They] allowed us to wrap our collective minds around every possibility and to think more deeply about alternatives, to gage and compare a range of ideas on how to establish a new building,” said Ruth Butler, co-chair of the Public Library Design committee.

The committee decided to keep the new main library connected to its roots, literally. The new library is a glass monolith connected to the gothic, medieval looking building that used to be the old public library. It consists of five levels: The third floor dedicated to a children’s section, the second floor primarily for research, and the first floor for browsing magazines, pleasure reading, and multimedia. The first basement level features fiction works and the second floor holds a 250-seat lecture hall and another group meeting room for town assemblies.

“It’s not just a building, it’s like a work of art,” said Samantha Fitchberg, a Cambridge resident, as she admired the outside of the library waiting for it to open.

Flannery said that when designing the new library, it was important to make sure that the historical library was incorporated. She said they put the reading room and teen center, areas that generate the most traffic, in the old building so it “wouldn’t become a mausoleum.”

“Most people would say to put the Cambridge historical section in the historic part of the library, but then only a select few would ever go in there and that area would be lost,” she said.

The teen center was one aspect of the new library that Flannery said she was most excited about. She said that the last main library had a section for teens that barely took up any space in the children sections. In the new library, teens have their own brightly colored, separate area to hang out with their friends, borrow movies, and read for fun. The section has a relaxed, separate atmosphere that caters to what teens want.

“One of the things people think is that libraries are off putting and no fun. I believe that having fun and learning don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” said Flannery about the fun atmosphere about the new library.

Another part of the library Flannery said she was most excited about is the children’s level. She said that it was designed to look and feel like a tree house, which is why its on the third floor at treetop level. There is an express elevator that goes directly from the ground floor to the children’s floor that is designed to look like it is made from wood, and the ceiling of the third floor is a giant mural of leaves and foliage.

“It’s designed for the children without being too saccharine,” she said.

Besides catering to patrons of every age, the library also tries to cater to the Earth by using eco-friendly techniques in its design. The floors are made of renewable bamboo, and the lighting, heating, and cooling systems are on the cutting edge of green technology.

After years of planning and construction, the people of Cambridge can finally say they have a library of their own that they can be proud of. It is the best of both worlds, highlighting the importance of modernity and progress fused with historic nostalgia.

“Libraries go from cradle to grave. Everyone uses them, it’s a place most communities identify with,” said Flannery.



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Daily Free Press Articles

Jobs a concern for students despite economic growth

By Jaime Lutz and
Cara Kenefick


Published: Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Though the third quarter gross domestic product report being released Thursday is expected to show long-awaited growth in the economy, economists and state officials said a turnaround in the recession does not necessarily mean a better financial outlook for job-hunting students.

The unemployment rate, currently at 9.5 percent nationwide and 9.3 percent in Massachusetts, the Commonwealth’s highest rate in 30 years, will be slow to improve with the rest of the economy, economists and state officials said.

“There are lots of signs that the economy is improving, but from the point of view of students, the sad thing is that unemployment tends to lag the recovery, so often the worst unemployment happens after the recovery,” Boston University economics professor Randall Ellis said.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner warned recently that unemployment was likely to continue to rise until mid-2010 in spite of a better economic outlook, according to an Oct. 4 MarketWatch article. Massachusetts is somewhat less affected by the crisis, State Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Plymouth/Bristol, said.

“We have been better able to deal with the downturn than many other states in the nation,” Pacheco, who sits on the Mass. Ways and Means and Federal Stimulus Oversight committees, said.

Mass. Department of Labor Director George Noel said Massachusetts is doing its best to stem the consequences of unemployment.

“With unemployment being so high, we are trying to protect the welfare of all the potential in Massachusetts,” Noel said. “We want to promote stable and beneficial relationships between employers and potential employees.”

Ellis said Massachusetts is accustomed to economic practices that are helpful in times of economic crisis.

“From the point of view of Massachusetts, we tend to rely on business with large growth trends: medical schools, education, high-tech industries,” Ellis said.

The way to recovery will be through investments in these areas, Pacheco said.

“We all know that the biotech sector and science industry and our healthcare sector are areas in which we want to build upon the strong foundation that is already there,” Pacheco said. “Investments in these areas, I think, will bode well for our future.”

Other states with less progressive economic attitudes are not doing as well, Ellis said, such as Rhode Island, which has an unemployment rate of 13 percent, according to an Oct. 16 Providence Journal article.

“Rhode Island has been slower to move out of traditional industries, so there still is a significant amount of manufacturing,” Ellis said.

As Massachusetts focuses on its forward-thinking economy, Boston in particular has an extensive human resource to utilize among college students, Boston Indicators Project Economic and Public Policy Research Director Michael Goodman said. The BIP is civil community effort that proposes ways to address issues such as labor shortages, inflation and growing income inequality.

“The city used to be huge into manufacturing, but it’s transitioned into a more knowledge-based economy,” he said. “The concentration of universities and places of higher learning and high tech development is almost unparalleled.”

Though a boom in Massachusetts’ targeted industries could potential job opportunities for pending college graduates, some students said they remain unsure about their job prospects in any field, let alone one related to their major.

College of Communication senior John Davitt said he feels secure in his future. But many of his peers are less fortunate, Davitt, also a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior, said.

“Some of my friends are more concerned now with finding a secure job than finding one pertaining to their major,” Davitt said. “One neuroscience major I know is looking for jobs in sales, marketing, whatever she can find.”

Though it may seem like a hard time to be a senior in college, Ellis said recent graduates bring skills and advantages to the work force that older veterans do not.

“Many firms prefer new graduates who have many strong computer skills and understand information technology,” Ellis said. “So even though older workers are higher paid, many of them have a higher time finding jobs.”

An even larger problem than unemployment for college graduates and other workers, he said, is underemployment, where job-hunters settle for jobs with lower salaries and worse hours than they would accept in a better economy. This can have long-ranging effects on workers’ salaries, he said.

“If you don’t mind being a little gloomy, studies have shown the impact of these downturns affects a person’s career for the rest of their life,” he said. “They start on a lower level and they never make it up later.”

To help mitigate this, many students go into what Ellis called “public-minded” activist jobs such as the Peace Corps. Other students choose to prolong their time in school, perhaps acquiring an advanced degree.

BU spokesman Colin Riley said the school is doing its best to help students prepare for the future.

“Career services offers a lot of guidance, from resume workshops to talks with undergraduates about choosing majors,” he said.


BU changes grade release policy

Published: Monday, September 14, 2009

Updated: Monday, September 14, 2009

Parents of Boston University students will no longer receive their sons’ and daughters’ grades, in accordance to the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act, BU officials said.

Under FERPA, BU does not disclose student information unless legally authorized to do so, and the Office of the Registrar said as of Sept. 1, this information is now applicable to students’ official grades.

“The University Counsel has been in conversation about this,” Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said. “Last spring the University Counsel approved a new policy . . . with the student’s consent, we will communicate to parents.”

Brown sent letters to parents detailing the change and the intended benefits it would bring, BU spokesman Colin Riley said. School officials also discussed the issue with parents during summer orientation sessions.

“Upon a student’s matriculation into an undergraduate program at a college or university, regardless of the student’s age, those rights transfer to the student,” Brown said in the letter.

In the event of an emergency, however, students’ records would be released without student consent, he said. Elmore said BU will still contact parents in the event of disciplinary problems.

“We will reserve the right to contact parents about alcohol . . . if she or he is a danger to himself or others.” Elmore said.

Parents said they had mixed feelings about the new policy.

“I guess [my daughter] is going to be paying for school now,” Dave Larkin, father of a College of Communication senior, said jokingly.

Larkin said he was surprised to find out he would no longer be receiving his daughter’s grades.

“I think parents paying for their child’s education should have a right to see their grades,” he said. “But I trust my daughter to tell me honestly what grades she’s receiving.”

The goal of the policy is to facilitate communication between students and parents or guardians, Brown said in the letter.

Elmore agreed.

“We don’t want to be in the middle of that communication,” Elmore said. “You want to deal with grades, talk to your student.”

Riley said there have been few parental inquiries about the new policy.

Under FERPA, which passed in 1974, students have the right to inspect their records, require written consent prior to releasing identifiable information and request corrections to educational records that they believe are misleading or inaccurate.

Additional amendments, including the provision restricting grades from parents, were finalized in the Federal Register in early December 2008, according to the FERPA website.

“In the past, we made an assumption that students automatically consented,” Elmore said.

The Registrar Office can disclose directory information, which includes academic program and dates attended, degrees or awards received, email addresses, local address, phone number and the school or college the student is in without consent, Riley said.

Students are able to go on Student Link and allow their parents to receive their grades if they so choose.

COM sophomore Sarah Tanus said she thinks the new FERPA provisions are a good idea.

“Most people would rather it be this way,” she said. “Even if my parents aren’t getting my grades, I would obviously tell them what I got in my classes.”

BU is hoping to increase the number of recruiters on campus from last spring, Riley said, even if it doesn’t lead to immediate job offers for students.

“They’ll still take resumes,” he said. “If not now, then for later.”


MBTA considers route change

Published: Tuesday, September 9, 2008


Members of the Allston-Brighton community discussed potential bus route changes with Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority service plan managers in a meeting last night at the Honan-Allston library.

The bus 64 route, which runs from Oak Square in Brighton to University Park in Cambridge, was the meeting's main focus and the community's main concern. Bus 64 stops in both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's and Harvard University's campuses.

"We plan on re-routing the Hobart section via Brooks Street by adding addition stops on that road," MBTA bus route service plan Manager Melissa Dullea said. This alteration would eliminate all stops on Faneuil and Hobart Street, and instead make stops along Brooks Street.

The MBTA decided to draft the proposal after collecting data related to crowding, schedule adherence, the span and frequency of stops and the net cost it takes to run the buses, according to the MBTA service plan.

Dullea estimated the changes to the route would force about 84 people per day to seek an alternate means of transportation or bus route.

Allston-Brighton City Councilor Mark Ciommo's campaign manager, Mike McLaughlin said Ciommo brought up plans for the bus re-route after receiving requests from Allston-Brighton residents.

"We would like to make a compromise with the people in the neighborhood," he said.

Will Luzier, a spokesman for Sen. Steven Tolman, said the senator has concerns for the elderly in the neighborhood who may be affected by the route changes.

"Tolman would be willing to work with the people of those neighborhoods to reinstate the stops that were eliminated," he said.

Attendees voiced concern over those who may start to use cars as their main mode of transportation adding to the already crowded streets because of the change in bus schedule.

"It's just unfortunate how they have to take away from us in order to get something else," Allston-Brighton resident Ralph Walton said.

"If all goes according to plan, we should have an idea if we will carry through with the change in the route. If the plans go through, then it will be implemented no sooner than spring of 2009," Dullea said.

The meeting was the first of a series of 12, designed for community participation, feedback and revision of MBTA plans. The next meeting will be on Sept. 10 at Quincy City Hall.